Tribe faces change at top

MASHPEE — Votes cast in next Sunday's Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe election could send one of two messages — tribe members want to blaze the same trail for the next four years or shake things up dramatically.

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By GEORGE BRENNAN

capecodtimes.com

By GEORGE BRENNAN

Posted Feb. 17, 2013 at 2:00 AM
Updated Feb 17, 2013 at 11:45 AM

By GEORGE BRENNAN

Posted Feb. 17, 2013 at 2:00 AM
Updated Feb 17, 2013 at 11:45 AM

CHAIRMAN CANDIDATES

Cedric CromwellAge: 47Lives in AttleboroEmployment: Worked for Fidelity Investments before becoming tribe chairmanEducation: Bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts, B...

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CHAIRMAN CANDIDATES

Cedric Cromwell

Age: 47

Lives in Attleboro

Employment: Worked for Fidelity Investments before becoming tribe chairman

Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Previous tribal council experience: Served on council for six years before being elected chairman

David Pocknett

Age: 59

Lives in Mashpee

Employment: Maintenance worker for town of Mashpee

Education: Attended University of Southern Colorado; bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Previous tribal council experience: Served as vice chairman from 2007-09

Richard Oakley

Age: 60

Lives in Wareham

Employment: Retired DPW worker for town of Mashpee

Education: Barnstable High School

Previous tribal council experience: Served for 13 years ending in 2009

MASHPEE — Votes cast in next Sunday's Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe election could send one of two messages — tribe members want to blaze the same trail for the next four years or shake things up dramatically.

All four top officers on the 11-member tribal council, including the chairman and the vice chairman, are on Sunday's ballot, and there are contested races for all five seats. In all, 17 tribe members are running for chairman, vice chairman, treasurer, secretary and an at-large tribal council post.

The election at Mashpee High School starts at 1 p.m. with elders only for the first hour. From 2 to 4 p.m., polls open at the high school for the rest of the tribe's eligible voters.

It was delayed for two weeks by a February nor'easter that shut down much of the Cape for several days.

Several tribe members reached by the Times declined to comment on the record, though one said this is a "tough election" and has caused divisiveness among members that makes it hard to declare allegiances publicly.

Tribe member Paula Peters, whose husband Mark Harding is running for re-election as treasurer, disabled her Facebook page in recent days because she is tired of the "scrapping" between tribe members, many of them family. "No one has said anything personally about me or my husband, but it's the way the community is acting right now that's put me off," said Peters, who is a former columnist for the Times.

Still, Peters said she's proud and impressed by the sheer number of people willing to run in the election. Having been kept out of a race for chairman against Glenn Marshall in 2005 because she couldn't show she had attended the minimum number of tribal council meetings in a year (records were unavailable for some of those meetings), Peters said the number of candidates this year is a sign that the tribe has come a long way.

"People are jumping up and saying, 'I want to serve my tribe.' I'm proud of all of them," Peters said. "The idea that 17 people got up on stage and talked from the heart about why they want to run for office for the tribe is impressive. It's a really challenging time. That's a huge commitment."

Cedric Cromwell, who has led the tribe since 2009, faces challenges from David Pocknett and Richard Oakley for tribal council chairman.

Cromwell, 47, has campaigned on a platform of continuing to move the tribe forward. He took over amid a leadership scandal and switched gears from the tribe's $1 billion casino in Middleboro. After starts and stops in Fall River, Cromwell has an approved deal to build a $500 million casino in Taunton.

Cromwell, a former employee of Fidelity Investments who lives in Attleboro, is currently in talks with Gov. Deval Patrick to renegotiate a tribal-state compact after the initial deal was rejected by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. He is also attempting to guide the tribe's application to have land taken into federal trust for an initial reservation through the federal process.

"It's been a renaissance time for our tribe," Cromwell said, noting strides made in grant funding, as well as health and human services. "The word I'm hearing from tribe members is we can't have change at this time, especially with so many positive things happening. Any change would be a negative to our tribe."

A leadership change would affect the tribe's relationship with the governor's office, the BIA, Taunton and other leaders at a critical time for the casino project, he said. "Why mess with success?" he said. "Our tribe is very successful right now."

Incumbents always believe that it's never a good time to change leaders, Pocknett said.

Pocknett, 59, served as vice chairman leading up to the 2009 election, having defeated Cromwell and two other candidates in a 2007 special election. He was not part of Marshall's administration, but was elected after Marshall's right-hand man Shawn Hendricks moved up to the top job.

Hendricks and Pocknett did not seek re-election in 2009.

Pocknett, a maintenance worker for the town of Mashpee who lives in the town, said while he is supportive of the Middleboro casino, he's not running to stop the process that's in place for a Taunton casino. "My message is that we can't keep jumping around. We have to stay the course but try to right the ship," Pocknett said.

Pocknett said it's a hugely important election. "Every (election) is an important one," he said. "This one, because it happens every four years, is the most important because it's the top brass."

Oakley, 60, a retired employee of the Mashpee Department of Public Works and a resident of Wareham, has been more vocal about the decision of the Cromwell administration to abandon Middleboro and its initial investors. "We had a good relationship with the people we were negotiating with in Middleboro," he said last month. "Financially, and everything else, Middleboro was the best option for the tribe to have a casino."

Oakley did not return calls for this story, but in a previous interview said he is hoping to bring unity to the tribe. "I don't want to be a disruptive force," he said. "Win, lose or draw, I'm hoping whoever is in office can bring our tribe together and help us become a self-sufficient tribe."

Cromwell said the number of candidates running for office should not be seen as a sign of unrest throughout the 2,600 members of the tribe. "Anyone has a right to run for office. I understand that, I get that, and I support that," he said. "I think it's special that everyone gets their opinions, ideas, thoughts and rights"» We're moving forward together."

Vice Chairman Aaron Tobey, a former employee of the U.S. Postal Service, faces a challenge by Jessie "Little Doe" Baird, who is director of a program aimed at reclaiming the tribe's native language.

Both have worked on the tribe's casino plans — Tobey as a chief negotiator of the tribal-state compact and Baird in helping to tell the history of the tribe's ties to Taunton in a key document under consideration by the BIA.

Council member Selena Jonas is being challenged by two candidates, Charles Foster III and Joanne Peters.

Jim Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag member and chairman of the state's Commission on Indian Affairs, said next Sunday's vote is critical.

"I do get concerned that elections are sometimes based on popularity rather than looking at the bigger picture," he said. "Significant changes in makeup would have a real impact on where we are trying to go."